Last November I was proud to take a group of six girls from Year 9 along to an all day activity at Youth Space in High Wycombe. They were there to work on a project to target the way young people are treated by health professionals. It had previously been identified that young people, and especially young people with learning difficulties and other special needs, were disappointed with the way they were treated by health professionals.

The aim then was to give advice to health professionals and young people about how to manage their health consultations. Along with pupils from other schools we set about identifying some clear messages and designing some posters and leaflets to carry this advice. At the end of that first day the young people handed over their ideas to the adults to continue the process. The young people were consulted at key stages but finally the posters were ready to be launched.

The official launch took place at the Judge’s Lodgings in Aylesbury. Sue Imbriano, Strategic Director for Children and Young People in Buckinghamshire, was there to congratulate everybody involved and to make presentations to the young people. Each pupil who took part was given an AQA Unit Award for contributing to a focus group.

We were especially pleased to see that the design elements created by Chanel and AJ were included in the final versions. We were also very proud of Laura who gave a short presentation at the launch event. Well done all of you! And we shall look forward to seeing the posters in Buckinghamshire clinics soon…

Alfriston is working with TalkTalk and The Parent Zone on the HomeSafe challenge. It’s an opportunity to learn more about internet safety and what your children are doing online. We know that keeping up to date with what kids are doing with technology can be difficult which is why we have joined this TalkTalk and The Parent Zone initiative to bring you the best available information. It’s also a chance for you to help us win some prizes for the school.

How’s it going to work?

Each term we’ll look at a different area of your family’s digital life and give you up to date information on what you can do with your children to keep your home safe.

We’ll also set a fun challenge for you to do with your family – we’d like you to join in, find out more, and win prizes for school. You’ll take part through Alfie’s Zone and we need 25% of our pupils’ families to join in to help us win!

What will be covered?

We’ll provide a leaflet at the beginning of each term, (starting in the Autumn term), explaining what areas will be covered as well as what challenge we’ll be asking you to take part in. There will also be more information on Alfie’s Zone if you want to know more.

Do I need to take part?

90% of UK children aged 5-15 have access to, and over 80% of children use, the internet at home. 46% of UK parents agreed with the statement: “My child knows more about the internet than I do”

Staying safer in a digital world is a whole new set of lifeskills. We hope that by working together we can support you in keeping your children safer online and help us all to enjoy the opportunities technology offers.

Some girls in school have been learning about mobile phone safety. Please help all young people to stay safe and keep their mobile safe by registering them on the website at www.immobilise.com

Immobilise is the world’s largest FREE register of possession ownership details and with its sister site CheckMEND, the largest database of stolen property and blocked mobile phones.

According to the Mobile Life Youth Report three-quarters of young people have had their phone bought for them by their parents, while half have their calls paid for by their parents. If your child doesn’t already have a mobile phone then you may be considering purchasing one for them soon. When deciding which phone to purchase, consider their needs at this age and perhaps opt for a basic model, to make it less attractive in terms of theft or bullying.

6% of children aged 10 to 15 years reported unwanted and nasty emails or texts, or abusive postings on a website. [British Crime Survey, 2011]

1 in 5 boys and girls aged 6 to 9 years old reported being the victim of cyberbullying [AVG, 2011].

This is partly because children in the UK use social networks for longer than any other country and the advent of smart phones has made mobile social networking an any time, everyday pass-time. 1 in 10 of those questioned said they used Facebook, even though they were well beneath the minimum age limit of 13.

Mobile phones are stolen in about half of all street crime and in approximately a third of cases it is the only property stolen. [National Mobile Phone Crime Unit, 2010]

Registering your mobiles before they are lost or stolen, may help to recover the phone. In the event of loss or theft, the details of the handset will become available to Police and other agencies which may assist in its recovery, as well as provide those all important details for insurance purposes. Remember, however, that to have the phone blocked YOU MUST report the loss or theft to the network provider to ensure that it cannot be used to make calls by the finder or thief here in the UK. Call 08701 123123 for further advice.

Unfortunately blocking the handset from network use will not block access to personal information or online accounts which are not password protected, so encourage your child not to store sensitive personal information on their mobile unless it is password or PIN code protected.

A staggering 228 mobile phones are reported stolen every hour in the UK

[UK Technology, June 2010]

Remember to keep a note of your IMEI numbers and log on to www.immobilise.com for more information or to register your phones today.

Encourage your child to carry the pocket sized Watch it! Safety Tips and emergency numbers with them wherever they go, if this leaflet has not been given to your child you can download it from the parents section at www.outofyourhands.com where you will also find other useful information and support on mobile phone safety and cyberbullying.

At a recent meeting of the Student Council, members felt that some of our pupils and their families may be interested in participating in a Police Independent Advisory Group.

The Wycombe Police Independent Advisory Group (IAG) allows interested individuals and community groups to meet regularly with the most senior local police Commanders and have their views listened to .

Meetings are held routinely about four times per year, with extra meetings arranged if and when necessary and the Group aspires to reflect the views of the local community. All communities should be involved; after all policing decisions affect us all. The IAG believes that we all deserve high quality policing services that are shaped around the needs of our community and community priorities should be local police priorities.

The groups are based on the belief that policing must be open and transparent and that “consumers” should have more input into the process. If you agree, or members of your community agree, then why not join the IAG?

Wycombe Police are seeking local volunteers who will help to reflect our community. Those from minority ethnic groups, those with all kinds of disabilities, ages, religions or faiths, with or without employment, of all political persuasions and of any sexual orientation are all welcome. Whether you live or work in Wycombe itself or one of the nearby towns, are a traveler or rural farmer ~ you may be able to really make a difference.

The IAG is there to advise Thames Valley Police of the various views from the local community. There is no need to reach a consensus and the group is not responsible for the implementation or consequences of any of the recommendations. Differing personal views within the group are welcome ~ the police need to hear all sides.

If you are interested in taking up this opportunity please complete the application form at the following web site:

The team supporting the transition pathway are launching a new website but would like to consult pupils and their parents about the content. They are inviting you (pupils with a Statement of Education Needs and their parents) to attend a session at Green park on Tuesday 9th April 10.00- 1.00 (including lunch). You must register your interest as soon as possible.

Tuesday 5th February is Safer Internet Day. The slogan for this year’s campaign is Connect with Respect. As parents I wonder if you are a good role model for your daughter; are you respectful and sensible on line? Do you know how to make sure your daughter is safe and what you can do today to make her safer?

The campaign is organised by the UK Safer Internet Centre and their website has some really useful information and great resources to download. There is also a quiz so you can judge just how much you really know about the Internet. I recommend that you take a look to see what you can learn at: http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/

The campaign is closely linked to recognising our online rights and responsibilities and the results of the “Have Your Say” survey of 24000 young people in the UK will be released during the day. I will report on these findings in the Newsletter coming out at half term.

At this time of year when the nights draw in so quickly, the Student Council wanted to stress how important it is for us all to make sure that we can be seen by motorists in the fading light and after dark. If you are a driver you will know how difficult it is to spot the pedestrian who nips across the road in front of you dressed in dark colours from head to foot. Therefore the Student Council once again chose to encourage pupils at Alfriston to wear something bright on their coats or bags. To this end, during Road Safety Week last month, every pupil was given a hi-viz reflective sticker to wear.

The main campaign for Road Safety Week this year was to cut speed in local communities where children, pets and families are travelling between home, school and shops. The Go20 campaign reports that 20mph is much safer for people walking and cycling because drivers have far more chance to react in an emergency and avoid hitting someone: your stopping distance at 30 is nearly double than at 20. Where 20 limits have replaced 30 limits, there have been reductions in casualties.

Lower urban speeds are particularly good for kids. Research shows children struggle to judge speed when vehicles are doing more than 20mph, yet many drivers expect them to simply keep out of the way.

Every day seven children and 19 adults and are killed or seriously injured while walking or cycling on UK roads. Every death and injury is devastating for families involved, and entirely preventable.

Takeover Day is a national initiative started by the Children’s Commisioner. The premise of the day is that children and young people are invited to takeover adult roles for the day. Six girls from Alfriston’s Y9 took part in this year’s event at Youth Space in High Wycombe, organised by Buckinghamshire’s Participation Team, along with pupils from other schools .

Previous consultations with young people have identified that children and young people, especially those with special needs, felt that health professionals spent more time talking to their parents or carers than they did to them. So, the young people were charged with the task of producing a leaflet aimed at health professionals to make this point and also a poster to encourage young people to speak up for themselves and to make sure that their voice is heard.

The girls arrived at Youth Space ready for action and, once they had got to know everybody, they soon got to work. The initial stage was to identify the key areas of concern and suggest ways forward. Then it was the fun bit; generating ideas and experimenting with colours, images and text. The room was soon alive with creative thoughts and some inspired samples started to emerge . Next it was a question of agreeing what worked and what didn’t before adapting the ideas to the specific purpose of being used with and by health professionals.

By the end of the day there were some truly fabulous ideas taking shape and these were handed over to a professional artist to finish the job and make the ideas a reality. We hope to be involved in approving the design as it progresses and hopefully you will soon see the leaflets and posters being used by a health professional near you!

“Send My Friend to School” is a campaign that has brought together hundreds of thousands of students and teachers in the UK who want world leaders to keep their promise and make sure that every child can go to school, no matter where they live. We want world leaders to pay attention, to make plans and give money to education. They can do this by working together.

Here at Alfriston the Student Council urged each pastoral group to think about the plight of children around the world and to record messages on a gold medal template. These were duly sent to our Local MP Cheryl Gillan.

She enjoyed reading our messages and was so impressed by the work we had done that she decided to post a picture of our medals on her own website: www.cherylgillan.co.uk

Some countries still need to provide the aid they promised, others need to make sure the aid gets spent on education, and many need to spend more of their own money on schools and teachers. We need education to be a top priority because time is running out. With only three years until the 2015 deadline 67 million children are still missing out on school.